The Insane Regressor: Throne of Pride

Ravian had barely begun to leave his room when another window appeared before him.

[Ding!]

[Today’s Sovereign Pulse was automatically activated while the Host was unconscious because it had not been used beforehand.]

[All of the Host’s physical capabilities have received a slight, permanent increase.]

[The daily use has been consumed.]

[Sovereign Pulse alone is no longer sufficient to advance the Host’s Physique to a higher grade.]

[No further Physique progress has been made. The Host must absorb the bodies of soul-power wielders to resume the Physique’s advancement.]

Ravian looked at the window, then slowly clenched and relaxed his hand.

Amid the agony that had swept through his soul, he had failed to notice what had happened to his body. Now that his senses had stabilized, he could detect the slight improvement in his muscles’ responsiveness, but it was nowhere near the violent transformations that had previously reshaped his flesh and bones.

’Even while I was unconscious, you still didn’t let today’s use go to waste. What a diligent System,’ Ravian thought with a small smile. ’But I like that.’

Ravian did not linger upon his usual sarcasm and instead focused on organizing his thoughts.

The final line, however, held his attention for a few moments.

Sovereign Pulse had not stopped strengthening him; the increase it provided was simply no longer enough to push his Physique toward another stage of advancement. The disparity between his former Physique and his current one was clear, even if he did not like the situation.

After several seconds of silence, Ravian turned his head back toward the mirror. His handsome face appeared calm now, and no trace of the crown could be seen above his white hair, as though nothing had ever happened, but Ravian knew just how much had truly changed within him.

’Display my full status. I want to know everything I possess now.’

The smaller windows disappeared, replaced by a screen that extended before him.

[Sovereign Pride]

[Heir: Ravian Veyr.]

[Titles: Fate’s Manipulator; The Truth Sect’s Demon.]

[Race: Human-Void.]

[Age: 18.]

[Rank: Ninth Rank—Walker.]

[Current Gate: The Ninth Gate—Gate of the Walker. Status: Open.]

[Path: Sovereign Pride Path.]

[Available Powers: Aura and Magic.]

[Soul: Dual Soul.]

[Element: Void.]

[Extra Lives: 10.]

[Abilities Linked to Sovereign Pride:]

[Sovereign Pulse;

Void Shadow;

Exalted Identity;

A Lie Acknowledged by Truth;

Void Traverse.]

[Innate Abilities:]

[Absolute Focus—Rank: Unknown.]

[Sovereign Paradox—Rank: Unknown. Status: Developing.]

[Physique: Void-Grade Sovereign Pride Physique.]

[Law of Void Comprehension: 0.001%.]

’What? Half human, half Void?’ Ravian was so stunned that he did not know how to react.

’What caused this, System?’

[This is due to the Host’s new Physique.]

[I cannot disclose anything further. You will have to discover the rest for yourself, Host, but I advise you to wait until you are stronger.]

Ravian read the screen from beginning to end, then returned to several of its lines.

’Not bad,’ Ravian told himself as he read his status. ’This is actually much better than I expected.’

His eyes settled upon the number of extra lives he possessed.

Ten lives.

The number had been reassuring before he acquired an ability the System warned might cost him his life several times over. Now, it seemed like a reserve he needed to think very carefully about drawing upon.

Ravian dismissed the detailed status window, but he did not sever his connection with Sovereign Pride.

’Now show me the conditions and requirements for advancing to the Eighth Rank—Soul Liberator.’

The response appeared immediately at his command.

[Target Rank: Eighth Rank—Soul Liberator.]

[Advancement requires fulfilling the qualification condition and meeting the advancement requirements.]

[Qualification Condition: Fulfill one of the following alternatives.]

[Kill 100 Tenth-Rank Awakened.]

[Or kill 10 Ninth-Rank Awakened.]

[Or kill one Awakened of the Eighth Rank or above.]

[Fulfilling any one alternative is sufficient.]

[Condition Status: Unfulfilled.]

Ravian stopped at the final line.

The numbers did not disturb him at first, nor did the fact that the path to the next rank began with a list of people to kill. Only one word bothered him.

Unfulfilled.

When he had previously examined the requirements for the Ninth Rank, the System had explained that past events would still count regardless of how much time had elapsed between those events and the unlocking of a rank’s conditions and requirements.

’Hey. I killed Robert. He was Seventh Rank,’ Ravian called out to the System. ’Why wasn’t that counted?’

[Correct. That event did indeed occur, Host.]

’Well? The Seventh Rank is higher than the Eighth, so shouldn’t it count, or are you trying to cheat me now, System?’

[The Host did indeed previously fulfill this condition by killing Robert.]

The System’s reply was as lifeless as ever despite Ravian’s outburst, and his eyes narrowed.

’Then why are you saying it’s unfulfilled?’

[This is a consequence of the incident in which the Descent of Truth extracted the Host’s Records.]

[The Records that fulfilled the condition were lost during the incident involving the Taboo of Truth’s Descent.]

[The Host must fulfill one of the alternatives again.]

[All of this happened in the first place because of your recklessness, Host.]

Ravian continued staring at the System windows as the mockery gradually vanished from his face.

He did not need to make any effort to remember that incident. Some of its details were far clearer than he would have liked, from Robert’s corpse and the power that descended upon him to the sensation of his existence being torn away piece by piece.

However, he had not known that what he lost back then would return to exact another price from him now.

’Was it really that bad back then?’ Ravian asked.

[Worse than you can imagine.]

[The Records necessary to validate the condition were among those lost. Records are a fundamental component of the soul and are extremely vulnerable to any assault.]

[Rebuilding the Host’s soul, even at a price, cannot restore the Records that were previously destroyed.]

[Nor does the System’s knowledge of the incident restore the Records erased during it.]

Ravian ran his thumb over the dried blood on his palm, which had fallen from his nose when his soul returned to his body.

He understood the distinction now, even if he did not want to.

He had witnessed for himself how memories, will, and Records intertwined within the white lines that formed his soul. They were connected, but they were not the same thing; retaining the memory of Robert’s death did not mean Ravian had preserved everything that death left behind within his existence. In fact, it was fortunate that he had already received the reward for killing Robert.

The System made no attempt to comfort him, and Ravian likely would have found it insulting if it had tried.

He looked over the three alternatives again: one hundred Tenth-Rank Awakened, ten Ninth-Rank Awakened, or one Awakened of the Eighth Rank or above.

The option requiring the fewest deaths was not necessarily the easiest, and Ravian was not prepared to charge after an Awakened of a higher rank merely because the System had made it seem possible and simple by reducing the task to a single line.

Then a more important question occurred to him.

’What is the reason for these conditions in the first place? Why am I required to kill this many people to advance, and do other people ascend in the same way?’